Apparatus for storing and dispensing stacked articles



Feb. 15, 1949. W. J, GIE-:Bs 2,46L638 APPARATUS Fon sToRING AND`DISPENSING sTAcKED ARTICLES Filed Feb. 17, 1945 3 sheets-sheet` 1I BY vfauu, ATTORNEY Feb. 15, 1949. w. J, @BBS `2,461,638

APPARATUS FOR STORING AND DISPENSING STACKED'ARTIGLES lNvEN-roRWayward/55.5

By um H7ATTORNEY Ferm 15, 1949. {,V, J, @BBS APPARATUS FOR STORING ANDDISPENSING s'JAcKE'D ARTICLES Filed Feb. 17, 1945 3 Sheets-Sheet 3ATTORNEY eallyr` maintaining the top stant predetermined level. frelates to improvements irl-unitary storage and sented for height andthose below it are encased or heldin `fheadload which includest rier andarticles extending `a at'the v*saine height as iframe WithacarrierPatented Feb. 15? 1949 UNITED STATES APPARATUS'.oR-,f-fs'roRiNGffANni-pisPENs- Y l`ING-iSTACKED ARTICLESmentation-February 17, 19415;v sei-iai im. szsfs flhe present inventionf relatesto apparatusor storing and f feeding superimposed articles,lsuch `as trays; ydishes includingf-plates.-fsaucers; ycups and-the like;.material in -theprocess of manufacture and particularly to apparatusfor automatiof superimposedmaand weight atv-a .con-

rMore particularly,y it

terial having y uniform size dispensing apparatus of the general .typeshown and described in my Patent 2,251,874issued Aug# ust 5, 1941. y j..

-Itis one of` the Iobjects of'fthelinvention among others to provide animproved apparatus foresterv ing and delivering stackedarticles in Isuch position that the uppermost-unitof the stackispreusev at apredetermined convenient protected` position ready to .be automatically.fed

, upwardly upon removal of saiduppermost-fmemb er whereby the nextmember ormunit, beneath it comes automatically into position at saidprefdetermined height and more particularly to adding counterweightymassesto .counterbalance 'the @Cr the F911 of ,the t thereby relieve the loaddispensing apparatus Supporting Springs used nilghiappefaius.,fromSuppprtne such. i *f paratus adjustable for delivering stacked articlesf different types, sizes andweight in orderfthat A the apparatus maybeused ior a Variety f dif- "Terent articles"capable 'fbeingsi'facke'dfandv a means to insure that the apparatus will-"always beinadjustment so that light loads are delivered heavy io'ads with neinjur'y'to the apparatus as the load is placed'. on the' apparatuso`removed.` Further the invention provides" apparatus wherein theworking `parts are readily'accessible fro'ni'th'e vexterior so thatadjustments may be .made'without diiculty when a change is made in the'stacked articles being stored and delivered.- Still further 4objects areto provide an apparatus'whichfis easyfand simple of design;economicalato manufacture;

f= fdurablein operation; and: aneapparatus whose ap- =pearance ispleasing to become apparent from the detailed description in the eye.Other objects will conjunction with the drawing.'

- In carrying out the objects -of the invention,

there is provided'fan'apparatus'for s toring and feeding stackedarticles '-hav ingja -supporting to hold stacked articles ver-Iutiai1y-n9vaue wmathestpnoamg famsso he weightfoi tlri'encar..`

that ,.the ^uppermost ofthe stacked articles #is at lay-.prle deterrnined level. 'Their-fis a carriersupportingmeanswithin.theysupporting iramdcomprisingfsprockets andsprockethainsarid a lu rality'z''f.spring.. tensioning membersfattachoperative relationl. :to y...the carriernsupper rig means with. eachVspring .tensioning-fmember.: elingV calibrated to balance acertainlweightwith the plurality of. springtensioning mem-bers coun-.0Y.terbalancing:Y saidcarriep. and. anyloa-d thereon Aso 'thatthefuppermost stacked article. willabe `freely :presented atpa.predetermined level. .'lhe y@apparatus'is...;adjustable for Vstackedarticlesfof lesserY weights by each springtensioning member l 5 f.. being.; separately detachable from.. 'operative' Irela- .tion with -thecarrier .supportingT-jmeans.so the counterbalanceprovided bythe springtensioning members maybe adjusted to counterbalaneeany .1 lesser..weight of y stackedv articles uponv th.. carv.., r ier..,fI'herplurality-of springtensioning mem bershave.- ene; end of thesprin'gmembers y"gattached toa cross bar or saddle.inez'nbeny whichvcross,.'loaris attachedI operativelyfwith thesprocliet ,.chain,`wl'lilethe otherendis ,attached ,to the sup- }pprtir ig frame fromwhichthe spring. lmembers are ,detachable so.f.as-to-rendr `the'Springmnt'rbalancing.elementsare attached to the .pin Y membersandextend into the spring members. 40 The invention [will lbe. better.understoodq- Yrom the following detailed description. having/r 'ererleto! the? aeembenyihe dravihgswhreirilike .referenoe numerals have*been-used-to, represent `,like Fparts ,throughout the several viewsQandin ',.jv'vhi'clhz-T y. Figure -lis a-iront--andwsidefvelevational viewof ,the improvecb. apparatus fof the l invent-ion,i Y Eiguregz.isatop:planf-view ofthe improved apparatuswithparts brokenfawamandwithseme details of-thefenclosed-mechanism slnewn7A dot- ,"tedln? n z if e Eigurefisfa verticalsectional view-take alena f l the line IIIe-III-ot fEigure 2 and look-ing :the

direction of the arrows.je

`'tion H5 H5 carries shafts on which are ,Figure 2 at I2,

y corners of CarrierIB to the lugs AI4 and I response to varying loadson the carrier the upper level of said apparatus of the invention withthe door open to get a view of the interior of the apparatus.

Figure 5 is a sectional view taken along the line V-V of Figure 4 andlooking in the direction of the arrows.

Figure 6 is a sectional view taken along the line VI-VI of Figure 5 andlooking in the direction of the arrows. y

Figure '7 is an elevational View of the counter balancing elementsshowing the elements sepa- Aof upright rodsI II fastened at theirv lowerends to a base portion lI I andsecuredto a top porat their upper ends.The top portion mounted spaced pairs of sprockets, two ,of which areshown in I 2' over which pass sprocket chains, two of which are shown atI3, I3 in Figure 2 which at their respective ends connect With the lugsI4, I4' and I5, I5', shown in dotted lines in Figure 2 which in turnsupport the four which has trays l'I carrying dishes stacked thereon. Atthe other end of the supporting frame, the sprocket chains which passI4' ypass over sprocket wheels carried by top portion I i5, oner ofwhich sprockets is shown at I8 (Fig. 3). The other free end of thesprocket chains are anchored in a cross bar I9 which is secured tobrackets |20 extending from certain rods II shown in Figures 3 and 4 andresting on upright bars Ila. The sprocket chains passing from sprocketvwheel to sprocket wheel along thel side of the apparatus such, as thesprocket chain I3 passing from the sprocket I 2v to the sprocket I8, aresupported midway of ,theV side of theapparatus by a sprocket wheel 220carried by the top portion H5, to prevent saggingof the sprocket chainas shown in Figure 9. The sprocket chains provide the support for thevertical movement of thecarrier I 6A in I6. 'I'he description of theapparatus to this point is similar to the apparatus shown in Patent2,251,874 issued August 5, 19741.

The improvement over the above mentioned patentlresides in making theapparatus adjustable to care for different weighted articles onthercarrier I5. The weight placed on the carrier I6 is transmittedthrough the sprocket chain members. Mounted to cooperate with thesprocket chain members are a plurality of spring ltensioning members,which springs 20 are calibrated so that the addition or removal of oneor more of said trays I'Iy to or from the stack resultsin a proportionallowering or raising of the said carrier I 6 and its stacked trays I 'lwhereby 4 stacked trays I1 is always at a substantially predeterminedlevel with respect to the top of the apparatus. The lowering of thecarrier I6 within the supporting frame is resisted by the springs 20Ybeing placed under tension and as weight is removed from the carrier Ithe tensional force in the springs 20 rwill be reduced. It can thus beseen that the springs 20 act as a count'erbalancing forcefor any weightY placed on the carrier I6.

The tensional force in the springs 20 will de- 4 pend wholly on theWeight placed on the carrier I6. The four springs are calibrated tosupport the heaviest load for which the apparatus is designed` If it isdesired to use the apparatus for stacked articles of lighter weight, thetensional force of the springs 2li must be reduced before the sameapparatus can serve for more than one type of stacked articles. f

The springs 20 are mounted at ,their upper ends in a cross barorsaddlemember 2l made up of spaced members 22 and 23 with sprockets 24,24 and 25, 25' on either end of the cross bar overy which the sprocketchains pass. The springs are detachably mounted at the other ends thereyl5 line IX-IX of Figure 2 and looking in the diof on a series of hooks26, which hooks 25 are secured'to'a 'bracket 21 rigidly secured in turntothe supporting frame II. It can be seen that the cross bar or saddlemember is freely floating within the casing in a vertical direction andis responsive to the weight placed on the carrier I6 Vthrough, thesprocket chains'and in tu`rn`trans- Ymits the force created by theweighton the'carrier to the spring ytensioning members where the force isstored up as a tension force within the springs.

It can further be seen that the sprockets, sprocket chains and cross baror saddle member 2l provide supporting means for the carrier I6 withinthe supporting frantic. If it is desired to place stacked articles oflesser weight on Ythe'carrier I6, the calibration'on the spring`tensioning members 20A is such that the springs 2Il`wil1` resistthelighter weight; hence the carrier willnot `descend into the casing I 0.One of the springs 20 canbe detached from the hook 26 and be madeinoperative tol thus care for the lesser weight or 2 or Sspringsl 20 maybe disengaged vdepending carrier `I 6,

Yupon the weight placed on thef'carri'er, I6.`l In of the spring.sideways a little until it is clear'fof K the hook 26. ,The hook 26,which is adjusted to ment, the casing ,Ill has of the apparatus thatvcanbe `to unhook the spring to prevent the` springs from. unhooking.themrequire a slight pull tobeexerted on ythe spring from the hook, issufficient selves when the dispenser is .empty and alsoprevents theunhooked springs from rehookingV themselves when the dispenser is emptyorisv moved about. g

To make the apparatus susceptible of adjusta door 30 in the front,opened and the springs '2U are readily accessible for attachment ordetachment byV .an operator.y Since the hooking and unhooking of thesprings described above canbe done within a few moments, the utility ofthisA type of dispenser is very great since'it can be quickly changedfor carrying a load having one weight at one time and another'load of adifferent weight at another time.

The upper ends of the springs 20 are bent as at 3| to provide a hookanda pin 32 passes through openings in the spaced walls 22,v and 23 YVtohold the upper ends of Vthe springs inmassembledy relation. A lockspring 33 holds'fthe pin 32`against accidental disengagement. Mountedinthe vtop of eachspring member 2U are a'pair'of counterbalance elements34 and 35 whichhave openings 36 and 31 through'whi'ch the 'pin members32 pacity of the spring to unerase extend to hold the counterbalanceelements assembled on the cross arm'ZI. r The counterbalance elementsare of such weight thatthe"head load, consisting primarily of thecarrier I6 and the initial load oi a predetermined weight placed on thecarrier, is counterbalanced thereby avoiding the necessity of stretchingthespring to position the top of the initial load 'at a predeterminedlevel. The springs V2l)- act as Sa housing for-thevcounterweights andVvprevents them from swingingand damaging the dispenser when it is movedabout. By making the'lcounterweight inserted in eachspring in apluralityof pieces such as shown in vFigure 7, the weights can bereadily inserted inside of the springs 20. The counterweights alsoassist in Apreventing injury to the springsshould rall the stackedarticles be suddenly removedfromithe carrier I6. A A It will thus beevident that I have accomplished'myobjective of "making, an improvedselfleveling dispenser which avoidsy any necessity 'of using part of thecalibrated springs rated capacity-for positioning the head load andinstead lallows substantially the entire rated cabe used for supportingmaterial added to the vhead load thereby always-keeping the top of V4thematerial at a constant predetermined level. f

It. isthought `the operation of the improved apparatus is fullyunderstandable from the above description in lconjunction with thedrawings and no furtherl vdescription of the' method of operation-isneeded..` While the invention has been described in connection with aspecific embodiment, it is to be understood that the words vwhich have.been used are words of description rather than of limitation, and thatpractice of the invention within the scope of the appended claims may beresorted to without departing; from the true scope of the invention inall its aspects.

The invention above described may be varied in Y,construction within4the scope of the claims, for the particular deviceselected toillustrate the invention is butoneof many possible embodi- 45 'mentsVvof fthe same.

n y The mvention, therefore, yis not to ber restricted to the vprecisedetails of the structure shown tand described.

flclaim: f

.1. `A storing and feeding apparatus comprising a'.,frame,a carrieradapted to be moved vertically vwithin said..frame and to support a loadof stacked articles with ,the uppermost article of the stack at,'a.-.predetermined vlevel, carrier supporting means', a plurality ofspring tensioning members connected tol-fsaidi-carriersupporting meansand frame, and elongated vertically extending couny'terbalance elementsconnected to said carrier supporting means, and coniinedby said springtensioning members to a vertical lengthwise path of travel,l each springtensioning member being calibrated to balance acertain weight, and saidplurality of spring tensioning members and counrterbalance elementscollectively counterbalancing said carrier and a predetermined load ofstacked f'uniform'articles so that th'euppermost articles in said stackwill be maintained at a predetermined level.

`2. A storing and feeding apparatus comprising a frame, a carrieradapted to be moved vertically within said frame and to support a loadof stacked articles with the uppermost article of the 'stack at apredetermined level, carrier supporting means, a plurality of springtensioning members connected to said carrier supporting 75 memberstherebetween, pins passing 4means'and frame, yand elongated verticallyex.- tending counterbalance elements connected to said carriersupporting means and coniined by `said spring tensioning members to avertical path of travel, each spring tensioning member being calibratedto Abalance a certain weight, and said plurality of spring tensioning 4`terbalance elements collectively counterbalancing lsaid carrier and apredetermined load of stacked uniform articles so that the uppermost.articles in said stack will be maintained atv a predetermined level,said apparatus being adjustable for stacked articles of lesser weight bydetaching the springtensioning members from their operative "saidcarrier supporting means and frame whereby the counterbalanceprovided'by the'spring tensioning members may -be adjusted tovcounterbalance a lesser weight of stacked article'supon the carrier.

f 3. A storing land feeding apparatus for stacked 'articles comprising asupporting frame, a carrier Vwithin said frame and adapted for verticalmovement and to hold a load of stacked articles with the uppermostarticle at a predetermined level, carrier supporting means, a pluralityof spring tensioning members having one end of each spring operativelyattached to a portion of the carrier supporting means and the otherendattached to the supporting frame, said portion of the carrier supportingmeans to which the one end of the spring tensioning members are attachedcomprising a pair of connected spaced members with the ends of thespring tensioning through the spaced members and bent sp-ring ends tohold the springs to the carrier supporting means, each springytensioning member being calibrated to balance a certain weight with theplurality of spring tensioning members counterbalancing said carrier andany loadthereon so that the uppermost stacked articles will be freelypresented at a predetermined level and said apparatus being adjustablefor stacked articles of vlesser weight by each spring tensioning memberbeing sepa- Vrately detachable from operative relation with the carriersupportingzmeans by detaching the endy of the spring attached to thesupporting frame so the counterbalance provided by the springtensioningmembers may be adjusted'to counterbalance any lesser weight ofstackedv articles upon the carrier. v i v 4. A storing and feedingapparatus for'stacke'd articles comprising a supporting frame, a carrierwithin said 4frame' and adapted for vertical movement Aand to hold aload of stacked articles with the uppermostarticle at a predeterminedlevel, carrier supporting means,'a plurality of"sp'ring tensioningmembers having one end of each springop'eratively attached to aportionof the carrier-supporting means and the other end attached' tothesupporting frame, said portion of I/the carrier supporting means towhich the one end ofvfthe spring tensioning members areattachedfcomprising a pair of connected spaced members with the ends ofthe spring tensioning .members therebetween,pins'passing through thespaced members and bent spring ends to hold the springs to the carriersupporting means, pair of counterbalancing elements attached to the pinsand extending within each spring member, each spring tensioning memberbeing calibrated to balance a certain weight with the plurality ofspring tensioning members counterbalancing said carrier and any loadthereon so that the uppermost stacked article will be freely presentedmembers and coun-

